Exactly 3 weeks ago, my boyfriend and I rescued an injured baby squirrel in upstate New York. We contacted a family friend who specializes in rehabilitating wildlife, he agreed to take the little guy if we could support him until morning.
I have an indoor house cat living with me and took precaution to make sure they did not come in contact, but am still worried there’s a possibility she could contract the fleas.
We put the squirrel in a small cat carrier and I took him right to the bathroom and closed door to examine his injuries and wash him up. During this I noticed he had fleas (narrowed down to the squirrel flea with photos). I found about 3 adult fleas and many larvae. I gave him a few baths with dawn soap (which supposedly kills flea eggs and larvae) and used a flea comb to remove as many as I could. I left him to inhabit the bathroom for the night with door closed shut until we were able to transport him to the wildlife rehabilitation.
Before exiting my bathroom I took off all clothing and anything that may have came in contact with squirrel, threw them in garbage bags and shut them outside on the porch. I cleaned the entire bathroom with bleach. I vacuumed the trail I walked with the squirrel through apartment.
However, the outside porch I’m more worried about. I used it to store the contaminated crate and towels that came in contact with him. I swept the porch and mopped it but still hesitant to let my cat on porch. Also I’d like to add, the next few days after getting the squirrel out, we endured a large drop in temperature. The contaminated objects remained outside during this, and I even saw 1 or 2 dead adult fleas in the carrier after the cold weather.
Do I have anything to worry about or am I being nuts? My cat is on flea and tick preventative so I know she is protected from the adult fleas. I’m just worried she will contract the larvae and eggs.
[link] [comments]
from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bpe82x/questions_about_transference_of_fleas/
No comments:
Post a Comment